Overcoming adversity

Despite roster setbacks, No. 2 Duxbury unbeaten

When Lily Sparrow tore her anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus during the fall soccer season, it was a three-season hit for Duxbury High athletics.

A leader on the soccer and lacrosse fields for the Dragons, the senior was a captain-elect for the girls’ hockey team.

“When I felt my knee pop, my very first thought was that I was going to miss hockey,” recalled Sparrow, who collected eight goals and 14 assists as a junior.

The Dragons already were dealing with the departure of leading scorer Ayla Abban to prep school. Sparrow’s injury came as yet another crushing blow.

But Duxbury did not wallow. The Dragons have persevered.

Entering the week, Duxbury (16-0-2) is second in the MIAA’s Division 2 Power Rankings.

Duxbury coach Dan Najarian characterized his team’s 4-1 win over top-ranked Archbishop Williams on Feb. 4 as “our best performance in all aspects of the game.”

“That is the benchmark game for us,” Najarian said. “It shows what we are capable of when we play our best. That is the standard we want to play up to.”

Duxbury has been well served by its sophomore and senior classes.

“[The sophomores] came in as freshmen and got a lot of playing time,” Najarian said. “And we still have six seniors. They have a lot of experience. That is the thing about high school hockey: the players come in waves.”

A defensive core of McKenna Colella and Lily McGoldrick are members of Duxbury’s strong class of six seniors, which has played an important role in setting a positive tone.

Among the eight sophomores, dynamic scorer Meghan Carney has stood out, scoring two goals in the statement win against Archbishop Williams. Madeleine Greenwood, another stellar sophomore, had Duxbury’s other two goals against the Bishops.

Sparrow believes the sophomores will maintain the legacy that she and her fellow seniors started. “We have a really strong group of underclassman who are having a great year and shining on our top lines,” said Sparrow.

Junior goalie Anna McGinty, who has a .961 save percentage this season, has been stellar the past two weeks.

Najarian said speed is what has set Duxbury apart this season.

“We do a lot of work in the neutral zone and in our transition game,” said Najarian. “We work on it in practice. Because of our speed, we move through the neutral zone quickly.”

Even though she can’t lace up her skates this season, Sparrow is still the team leader.

“Once the initial shock wore off, I knew I had to still show up for my team as the captain despite not being on the ice with them,” said Sparrow.

Proud of his team’s play, Najarian is confident the Dragons can make a deep run.

“Every team’s goal is to win it all,” said Najarian. “I want to take it one game at a time and hope to have that Archbishop Williams effort every game. If we do that, we’re a tough out.”

Ice chips

■ When Bay State Carey Division rivals Framingham (95-1) and Wellesley (9-6-2) met for the first time this season

Jan. 11, Wellesley earned a 3-1 win. On Saturday evening, the Flyers won the rematch, 5-2, earning their first victory over Wellesley since 2014.

Four years ago, in Casey Diana’s second season, Framingham went 0-19-1. Now the Flyers are 9-5-1 and ranked 16th in the latest MIAA Division 2 Power Rankings.

The difference? Confidence. “At the start of this season and early on, we knew we could play with the good teams, but we weren’t convinced we could beat them yet,” Diana said. “We had just come off a win against Braintree, so we went into that second Wellesley game knowing that not only can we compete with those better teams — we can beat them.”

Two players, Katelyn Nickerson and Arialla Diaz Pagano, netted their first varsity goals. Senior goalie Mikal Franklin, who recently made her 1,000th save in an 11-save shutout against Weymouth Jan. 28, made 30 saves in the rematch vs. Wellesley.

“Even the kids that don’t play a ton are invested — they want to win,” Diana said. “We rely on certain players in one way and other players in another way . . . We’re excited to see what this group can do moving forward.”

■ Though Cambridge (3-14-0) lost 3-0 in its Merrimack Valley/Dual County matchup against Central Catholic (8-8-0) Feb. 11, the Falcons still had something to celebrate. Senior goaltender Izzy Laskin hit 2,000 saves in the Saturday afternoon battle.